Playing at Forever (14 page)

“Right, because that would have been listening to my
only
request.  That makes plenty of sense.” 

“No, because there wasn’t a single guy in there—including your soon-to-be ex-husband—who wasn’t wishing they could be in my place.”

“Don’t you try to flatter your way out of this.”

“Penny, I promise you.  You really have no idea how amazing you look tonight, do you?”  She felt her breath catch in her throat as he held her eyes.  Part of her feared he might kiss her again, and she wasn’t sure what would happen now that they were alone out here, on the beach. 

And part of her wanted it more than anything. 

“Just don’t do it again, okay?”  Her voice was small, uncertain. 

“I’ll do my best,”   Penny smiled, tearing her eyes away from his and looking out to the ocean before them.  They were still on her property—below the patio, on the beach.  She paused for a moment, the music from the restaurant audible even down here.  She bent over and removed her shoes.  “What are you doing?” 

“I’m going to enjoy the rest of my evening.  Would you like to join me?”  Her eyes twinkled happily as she stepped out into the sand, walking just a bit closer to the shoreline.  Tommy followed only a step or two behind. 

Finally, she found the right spot and she tossed her shoes to the ground,
laying
down beside them.

“Are you feeling okay, Pen?” 

“Actually, I’m feeling pretty wonderful.”  She patted the sand beside her.  “Sit.” 

“What are you—
”

“
Shh
,”
  she
looked over at him.  “Just listen.  Just watch and listen, Tommy.  It’s a beautiful night.  You should enjoy it.”

A moment later, he lay down next to her—and they lay there silently, staring up at the stars.

Penny wasn’t sure when she fell asleep.  All she knew was that, when she woke, the sky was beginning to lighten.  “Tommy,”
  she
whispered, surprised to find that she was tucked warmly in his arms.  “Look.  Isn’t it incredible?” 

The sky was changing from shades of purple to shades of red, the sun glowing a dull orange color way off in the distance.  It had been a long time since she’d watched a sunrise.

“It most certainly is.”  He replied.  If Penny would have glanced in his direction, she would have seen that he was not looking at the sky at all, though. 

“Can we stay and watch it?”  She
asked,
her voice somewhat husky from breathing in the cool air all night. 

“Of course we can.”

“When we go to L.A., I want to watch a sunrise.  Put that on my to-do list.” 

“You’ve never been?”  He sounded surprised.

“I’ve never been anywhere, Tommy, except Florida, to see my parents.”  She shrugged her shoulders.  “Just never had the time, I guess.” 

“Well, so long as we’re involved in this little arrangement, I’m going to make sure you get to see some of the world.” 

“Oh yeah?”
  She thought about the talks they used to have all those years ago, very similar to this one.  Tommy had been all over, because of his father.  He’d seen all sorts of places and had only planned on seeing more.  They had talked about going all around the world. 

By now, he had probably seen all the places they had talked about seeing.

“I promise.” 

Tommy made a lot of promises, she realized. 

When the sun had finally risen, Tommy helped Penny to her feet.  She did her best to dust the sand off of her, but she knew it was going to take a long shower and a hefty dry-cleaning bill to take care of it all. 

She didn’t mind, though.  In the end, it had really been the perfect date.  She wouldn’t have changed a thing.

“Do you think the car is still here?”  Penny asked as they climbed up the stairs.  The door was locked and Penny’s purse, and keys, had been forgotten inside, so they walked around to the parking lot. 

“Guess not,”
  he
shrugged.  “Neither are the photographers, though, so that’s a good thing.  I’ll walk you?” 

“Nah, you go ahead and go back to the motel.  I’ll be okay.”

“You sure?
  I don’t mind the walk.” 

“
It’s
okay, Tommy.  Go ahead and get some rest.”  She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck.  “Thank you for a wonderful evening, though.”

“Thank you for spending it with me.”  Tommy hugged her back.  “Send me a text when you get home, okay?”  Penny nodded and backed away, waving with the hand she held her shoes in. 

It wasn’t a long walk, but Penny enjoyed it.  She hadn’t been able to walk to or from the restaurant without worrying about being spotted in too long—she wanted to enjoy it. 

When she arrived at Amy’s house, she was surprised to find the door was unlocked—but understood why a moment later, when she stepped inside to find Amy stretched out on the couch, the two young girls asleep in the oversized armchair. 

“Amy?”  Penny whispered, careful to avoid waking the girls.

“I’m awake,”
  Amy
whispered and Penny grinned, climbing onto the couch and huddling closely to her best friend.  “So?”

“It was lovely,”
  Penny
sighed, resting her head on Amy’s shoulder.  “He invited me to L.A.”

“Did he really?”  Amy’s eyes widened and Penny nodded.  “Are you going?”

“I told him I would.”  Penny couldn’t deny her excitement.  “Would you mind spending some time at the restaurant?”

“Only if you promise to tell me
everything
.”

“Deal,”
  Penny
wanted to dance around the house, she was so giddy.  Instead, she pressed her lips to Amy’s temple. 

“You know you’re practically covered in sand, don’t you?” 

“We fell asleep on the beach.”  Amy sighed, staring at Penny enviously.

“I can’t believe my best friend is dating a celebrity.”  Penny’s enthusiasm died down a bit as she remembered that she and Tommy had an arrangement and nothing more. 

That was okay, she told herself.  She was happy enough just to be Tommy’s friend.

So then why, she wondered, did her heart feel just the slightest bit broken?

Tommy was utterly and completely tormented. 

Try as he might, he couldn’t get her off his mind.  He tried watching
tv
, but he’d only ended up thinking about the way his heart had nearly thumped it’s way right out of his chest when he’d seen her coming down the stairs. 

He’d tried flipping through one of the scripts Graham had given him to read through, but instead he’d remembered the way she had looked just before he’d kissed her.  And then that had led him to thinking about how she’d looked
after
he’d kissed her—which, in his opinion, was even better. 

He’d started to read the sports page, but then the image of her that morning, sleeping in his arms, had crossed his mind. 

It was driving him insane.

He tried to tell himself that the only reason he was thinking about her so much was because he knew that he couldn’t have her.  It had been a long time since Tommy had come across a woman he couldn’t have.

It was just the chase that had him so hung up. 
The desire for a challenge.

Because it didn’t matter how much he wanted her.  It didn’t even matter if she wanted him back.  Physical attraction was not all that hard to come by.

But friendship?
  Especially like the one he and Penny had? 

That was a true rarity. 

He sighed, throwing the newspaper across the room and running his fingers roughly through his hair.  Tommy was going stir crazy in this tiny little room.

He nearly pounced on his phone when it started ringing, only slightly disappointed to find that it was Graham.  “You, my friend, are golden.” 

“Why’s that?”

“You know why!  You and that foxy little wildcat of yours, that’s why.  You bought out the
entire
theater?”

“For just one showing.”

“That’s romance, my friend.”  Tommy chuckled, shaking his head.  Graham had never, in all the time Tommy had known him, had a serious girlfriend.  “So what’d she say about L.A.?” 

“She’s ready to go whenever you want her to be.” 

“And what about you?”
  Tommy got up and crossed the room, his eyes landing on something on the floor. 

“I’m not against it.”  He leaned down and picked up part of the newspaper he’d thrown just moments ago.  “But I’m not against coming back here afterward, either.”

“Come
on
, man—there’s nothing in that place for you.”

“Actually, Graham, I beg to differ.”  Tommy glanced down at the real estate section he was holding in his hand.  “I’m going to let you go—I’ve got a call to make.”

“Are you calling her already?  You do know you’re not
really
dating, right?” 

“I’m not calling Penny,”
  he
grinned.  “I’m about to call another woman, though.  So that should make you happy.”

“I’m all for it!  Just make sure you keep it discreet.”

“Oh, I will.”  Tommy hung up the phone and stared at the smiling face of the real estate woman for a moment before dialing the number.  “Hello Mrs. Harris, my name is Tommy.  I’m looking to buy a house in the
Ravenside
area.”

“Oh my goodness,”
  Penny
breathed as they pulled up to Tommy’s house.  “You
live
here?”  The house was huge. 
Ridiculously huge.
  The car made
it’s
way up the drive slowly, stopping at the gate to wait for it to open.  Penny was in awe.

This
was just too much. 

There were photographers stationed just outside the gate and she felt herself slide closer to Tommy and further away from the windows as a few of them pressed their faces up to the glass. 

As the car pulled through the gate, though, the photographers pulled back.  “They know better.  I’ll get them for trespassing if they cross that line.”  Penny stared back at them.  He had been right when he’d told her it was worse in L.A.  She couldn’t imagine not even being able to have even a single moment’s privacy. 

“You can hear them all the way up here,”
  she
mused as they stepped out of the car.  The sun hung high in the sky above them and she was suddenly longing for shorts and a tank top.

“You get used to it.”  Penny looked back at the gate, knowing her picture was being taken but not even really caring.  She just couldn’t believe it.  “Hey, you
coming?
”  She turned to find Tommy walking up his porch and she hurried to catch up with him, only to come to a sudden stop as soon as she did.

“Are those
palm
trees
? 
In your house?”

“I don’t know if that’s technically inside the house or not.”  Penny just stared at him, her eyes wide.  Tommy laughed, reaching out to take her hand.  “Come
on,
let me give you the tour.” 

They passed through the first set of glass doors and Penny immediately understood what Tommy was talking about.  What she would consider the foyer was huge: to her right was obviously part of the house and to her left was a pool, complete with a waterfall cascading down from the second floor. 

She felt her jaw drop.

Several glass doors led inside the house—one looked like it led to a bedroom and the other two to the main living area of the house.  He took her through one of those.  “This is the living area—kitchen, theater room.”  He wasn’t kidding when he called it a theater room—there was a giant screen on the back wall.  “Over there is a bedroom.”

“How many bedrooms does this place have?”

“I think it’s about six, but I use one as my office.”  Penny covered her mouth with her hand and Tommy only laughed some more.  “Come on, there’s still more.”  They passed by the kitchen to get to the stairs.  “Down there is the dining room and the living room.”

“And it’s just you that lives here, right?” 

“I have company often,”
  he
waved for her to follow him up the stairs and so she did, trying to take it all in.  The theater room was visible from upstairs as well, and Tommy even had a few chairs situated so that you could watch from this spot.  “There’s the laundry room, and my office—and there are two more bedrooms that way.”

“Is that an elevator, Tommy?” 

“Yes, it is.” 

“And all of these walls are made of glass, aren’t they?”

“You got it.”  Penny couldn’t believe it.  She just couldn’t believe it.  “This is my room,”
  he
pulled one of the heavy glass doors right in front of them open and held it, motioning for her to go in. 

She gasped the moment she set foot through the door, covering her mouth with both her hands. 

It was beautiful.  The glass walls continued in here, two doors leading out to a balcony.  Even from where she stood, she could see the waterfall.  “That overlooks the pool.”  He told her, and she stepped forward, pulling the doors open.  When she looked to her right, she could see a mixture of cliff and beach. 

“Is that another bedroom over there?” 
she
asked and he nodded.  “Tommy, this is just—”

“A lot?”
  Penny nodded.  She turned around and walked back into the bedroom, peaking around corners.  There weren’t any doors for the bathroom—but in a house made mostly of glass, she figured privacy wasn’t really of the utmost concern.

Except from the outside.
  All of the exterior walls were made of thick adobe, as if to keep all outsiders in their place. 

“I can’t believe this is all yours.”  She sat down on his bed, needing a moment to take it all in.  “Which room
am
I supposed to be sleeping in?” 

“Whatever one you want.
  You can even have this one, if you’d like.” 

“I’m not going to take your bedroom—especially when you have so many others to offer.  That’s just plain rude.”